Washington, Feb 5 (DPA) The US hopes to boost exports by expanding lending to companies, clamping down on unfair trade practices abroad and taking a hands-on approach to find opportunities for US companies, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said Thurdsay.
Locke said the administration’s ambitious new target of doubling US exports within five years was designed to “correct an economic blind spot” that has eroded US competitiveness abroad in past years.
“For all of America’s economic strengths, we stand out among developed nations as one of the few whose government does not have a focused, comprehensive and agile export strategy,” Locke said in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington.
He said the US government would engage in “match-making” US companies with opportunities abroad and hoped to make up to $6 billion in extra financing available for US businesses that wanted to expand into foreign markets over the next year.
Locke also said the United States would become more aggressive in enforcing trade laws. President Barack Obama Wednesday said the US would put “constant pressure” on China and other countries to open up their domestic markets.
Hoping to revive a struggling US labour market, Obama announced the goal of doubling exports last week during his State of the Union speech to Congress, promising it would create 2 million new jobs.
